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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/13/australian-sport-climate-inaction-risks-report-data-environmental-defenders-office>
"Australian sport is failing to engage with or adapt to the climate crisis,
opening organisations up to serious financial and legal risks, a new report has
found.
Whether it is extreme heat, bushfire smoke or flooding, the impact of climate
change on sport in the country has been evident over the past decade –
affecting players, fans, officials and infrastructure from the grassroots level
to elite competitions.
While players and consumers are increasingly demanding climate action, the
joint report from the Environmental Defenders Office and FrontRunners found
sporting organisations are not adequately responding to the threat.
The chief executive of the Environmental Defenders Office, David Morris, said
the report, titled Sports, Climate Change and Legal Liability, showed “like in
many areas on climate change, Australia is coming from a long way behind.”
“Our sporting organisations – whether you’re talking about smaller or
grassroots organisations through to some of our most major sporting codes – are
not dealing with this like the fundamental issue it is,” Morris said.
The analysis of public documents from Australia’s top 314 sporting
organisations showed that less than 1% mention climate change in their annual
reports, just 6% reference climate change or sustainability in their strategic
plans and only 3% have any guidance on the issue on their websites.
Of Australia’s biggest sports, rugby league was one of the worst performing on
climate change and sustainability action, with its eight governing bodies
having no climate initiatives besides heat or extreme weather guidance.
“That stands in stark contrast to how climate change is being viewed in other
parts of the world,” Morris said.
“[The climate crisis is] going to make it harder for us to play, it’s going to
make for increased risks of participation through health and injury, it’s going
to make sport cost a lot more. And it’s most certainly going to affect
grassroots participation and at-risk and vulnerable communities the most.
“The impacts of climate change are going to increasingly and fundamentally
change our experience of sport. Grappling with that is a legal thing that
people involved in sports administration have to grapple with now.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
